Read our own Kaila Philo’s essay on Toni Morrison’s new book The Origin of Others and then pair it with Nell Irvin Painter’s reflection on ‘Toni Morrison’s Radical Vision of Otherness.’ “Morrison’s history of Othering represents an intervention in history on several fronts. Although the theme of desegregating the literary canon reappears in The Origin of Others, times have changed since Playing in the Dark. Surely thanks to the more multicultural, multiracial canon that Morrison helped foster, no respectable version of American literature today omits writers of color.”
Toni Morrison Changed the Literary Canon
Jailhouse Rock
Can't get enough of Orange is the New Black? Neither could The Missouri Review. Their new blog series, Literature on Lockdown, shares narratives from those who teach or write in prisons. This week's post comes from Ace Boggess, a poet who spent five years in a West Virginia prison. "One thing about being a writer in prison is that you have not lost everything. You still have that driving need to speak whatever truth you know in whatever way you can. No one can take that away from you, not even the State."
Always Label Your Milk
Among other things he left out of his famous poem, William Carlos Williams failed to give us any details about the kitchen in which he ate plums. At The Toast, Mallory Ortberg rewrites the poem so it takes place in a communal dorm kitchen.
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Writing About Home in Pittsburgh
A nice complement to Edan's essay today about writing in Los Angeles, The Metropolis Case author Matthew Gallaway writes about the challenges of representing his home city of Pittsburgh in his fiction. "For starters, there's the question of accuracy."
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Sex, Drugs, and Anniversaries
"For that reason, it’s hard to imagine coming to this book for the first time, and experiencing it in the same way as that college senior back in 2003." The Outline on the 15-year anniversary of Chuck Klosterman's Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs. (Read our review of the king of pop culture's newest book.)
Family Album
A look back at the author photos that have filled the pages of Poetry magazine.
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